Kenya is embroiled in a diplomatic dispute concerning unpaid bills exceeding KES 1.2 billion, primarily related to the construction of a multipurpose dam at the lower Ewaso Ngiro by a Spanish company. The Embassy of Spain has reportedly communicated with various Kenyan government entities to facilitate payment, but success has been elusive.
The issue was raised during the Kenya-Spain joint business forum in Madrid, where the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jose Albares Bueno, highlighted the outstanding bills. The amount in question poses a risk for Kenya, as a significant interest accrues due to the 10-year delay in settling the bill.
Spain’s Ambassador to Kenya, Javier Garcia de Viedma, expressed concern in a letter to the Treasury, stating, “As you are aware, the longstanding debt with the Spanish companies TYPSA is yet to be settled…despite the many efforts taken by the company and this embassy to collect the outstanding payments, we still have not received any way forward on the issue.”
Another letter addressed to the Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei, and copied to the then CS for the Ministry of East African Community, Rebecca Miano, affirmed that the Spanish company was contracted by the Ministry of Regional Development (now Ministry of East African Community). The contract, totaling KES 3.1 billion and KES 267.5 million, was for the detailed design of the lower Ewaso Ng’iro South river multipurpose dam.
The government of Kenya asserts that it awaits further verification from the pending bills committee, chaired by former Auditor General Edward Ouko, before proceeding with any resolution on the outstanding payments.
